September 9, 2014

If you've never been, it is an absolutely incredible place and a very worthwhile trip. It's the most perfect blend of art and nature I've ever seen with amazing monumental sculpture in, around, and on top of rolling hills and scenic mountain views. Take a look:

We got the perfect weather day

Sorry I don't have the name of every artist

I'll tell you the ones I do know. This is Claus Oldenburg's Drain Pipe

This is not a tree stump

Although it's made from little squares of tree stump

Did I mention the weather was perfect?

This is Alexander Calder

A very cool mirrored fence

Can't really tell in this picture

This is part of a special exhibit by Zhang Huan. Lots of giant Buddha body parts strewn about

The exhibit is titled Evoking Tradition

I think this one is called "Three Legged Buddha". It's pretty massive

Especially compared to the little grass seed heads everywhere

There were plenty of real beehives around so this was tres apropos

My family walking up one of the many hills to see the Richard Serras

And there's Anna walking on the Richard Serra

Did I mention it was a beautiful day?

This piece could be played with a rubber mallet creating an enormous sound like a huge gong

A dinner bell for the giants in the mountains

Another hill

I was trying to capture the grass,

which looked like a huge watercolor

Here's a cool bench made out of nickels

A sun-glared Tony Smith

You think these are just rocks don't you?

They're not

After so much walking we eventually succumbed to riding the trolley

The ride was pretty informative

Sorry this shot is in motion. You can't see the mermaids in the front of it. A cool piece by Roy Lichtenstein right by the pond

There's the pond

There's the wall by the pond but I don't know the name of it

If this wasn't a bench I'm sorry to say it definitely got sat on

Husband and daughter yelling and singing down the tube to some strangers on the other side. This is a temporary untitled piece by Virginia Overton

More prettiness

Some of the clouds even looked fabricated

The sun was playing artist too

Here's another shot from above of Tony Smith

There were quite a few pieces in this red-orange color. Perfect compliment to the landscape

"It is six A.M., and I am working. I am absent-minded, reckless, heedless of social obligations, etc...The tire goes flat, the tooth falls out, there will be a hundred meals without mustard. The poem gets written... I have no shame. Neither do I have guilt. My responsibility is not to the ordinary, or the timely. It does not include mustard, or teeth. It does not extend to the lost button, or the beans in the pot. My loyalty is to the inner vision, whenever and howsoever it may arrive."Excerpt from Mary Oliver's essay Of Power And Time